Fade With Me
by Luvejy
Summary: Discontinued until further notice. I've noticed many flaws with this story, and decided that until I have the time to rewrite it, I shall not update it. I will, however, leave this up for those who still wish to enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh Gx! I am merely presenting my devotion to the series in the form of fanfiction!**

**AN: Yep, this is Kyo again! =D Here's the long awaited story! I've been working hard on this, so I hope you like it! Updates will be slow, but I will do my best to get one up every once in a while! More reviews give me more encouragement...-Hint-**

**There will be several pairings in this story, but the two main ones are: Judai x Johan and Manjoume x Asuka. There WILL be a lemon in this story, but not til later, so I'll keep this T rated for now.  
**

**Enjoy the story!  
**

Chapter 1: Light of Time

Although the world had changed several times since its initial creation, there is always something that remains constant: the passage of time. The world coincides peacefully alongside the several dimensions of time, what we presently know as the past, present, and future. Each is equally important to a chain of events as food, water, and other nutrients are to the fragile human body. However, if the balance between the dimensions of time were to somehow be lost, then the results would be catastrophic.

As the years went on, several individuals had begun tampering with the elements of time and their effects upon the living environment. As expected, due to the fickle nature of their subject, the researchers obtained no accurate results and all hope for the discovery of scientific data was eventually lost.

Eventually however, several people once again decided to test time and began experimenting with it once more. When would it dawn upon them all that perhaps something as large and significant as time shouldn't be messed with, should the consequences they yield be too severe? It would seem that this hope is in vain, for over the course of several thousand years, hundreds of people tried to decipher the secrets of time.

It never dawned upon them however that one day their descendants would suffer the deadly consequences of their past endeavors and the punishment would be swiftly given by the force of time itself…

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Judai's eyes of deep molten brown stared lovingly into the amber and green eyes of his favorite duel monster. Yubel held a connection to this heart and a past as deep as the sands of time itself. Judai's gaze spoke of many things: friendship, promises, and everlasting love. Not the kind of love one would save specially for a lover or the family love, but the kind of love you would only give to someone who was a part of you; your closest friend. They were about to become permanently intertwined within the gates of time.

Yubel merely stared back at him; she was too overwhelmed with the emotion that had built up over the several hundred years they'd spent apart to utter any coherent words.

This boy, Haou---no, Judai had been willing to keep the promise of eternal love he'd given her in their past life, even if it meant that he would lose a significant part of his being. This fact alone was enough to finally open her eyes to the undeniable truth that lay before her and she couldn't help but wonder why she had missed the evidence before.

He was a different person now, no longer the prince that had once held Yubel's admiration and love. However, that prince still existed within him, even if it was too far beneath the skin to ever reach with her fingertips. To Yubel, that was enough to convince her of what she must do.

She would protect this boy, he who'd given up his mind's innocence and very nearly given his life for her. Yubel would devote herself to him, in order to shield him from the never ending suffering that fell upon the confused souls they'd conquered once before, when he'd lost control of everything. The souls would be restored upon Judai's departure, but she was certain that their lives would never be the same again after nearly losing their existence to the darkness of a human heart.

He smiled and reached out for her as the spell/magic card he'd activated to end the duel, Super Fusion, merged their beings—their _souls _together. Instantly, Yubel was overcome with warmth and emotions that she knew immediately were not her own; she and Judai had become one, yet they were not one. They were two separate beings, combined inside one body and soul. She couldn't help but allow herself to relish the closeness that their new bond brought upon her. She'd be with Judai forever---yes, that was now decided upon by fate.

They were slowly enveloped in a strong bright light that was strangely soothing instead of the catastrophic destruction that the light had once brought upon them. They both felt strangely warm; warmth they knew could only be generated by the gentle beating of a heart.

After a few moments, the light ebbed away and they stood merely staring into each other's eyes. Judai breathed deeply, feeling Yubel's power and duel energy rush through his veins like the blood that fueled his life. The peace was only interrupted when he smiled softly and collapsed into Yubel's awaiting arms, allowing his mind to drift into darkness.

Yubel wrapped her arms tightly around his limp form, tears rolling unchecked down her cheeks. She whispered soft words of love and protection in his ear, though he couldn't hear them in his slumber, before they shot upward in a great burst of light and exited the atmosphere.

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Johan gasped as a great pillar of light shot towards the sky, spreading across it at a rapid pace. He would have instinctively attempted to move out of the arching path of destruction, but due to his recent possession by Yubel, his body was left far too weak to do much more than sit there and stare at it in shock. As it was, they had barely enough time to register that it was shooting their way in the first place before it was upon them cloaking them within its strong embrace.

He struggled for a few moments before he found himself swept away by the current of light. He was instantly blinded by it and shut his eyes tightly to avoid damaging them, assuming he walked away from the experience alive.

After a few seconds of screaming silence, he heard several familiar shrieks of shock and surprise coming from all directions. He wanted to open his eyes and see what was going on, but experience kept his eyelids glued shut; something was whispering in his ear, telling him to shut everything out and allow himself to drift away into nothingness. He fought it for a few precious moments before finally giving in and allowing the black dots floating around behind his eyelids to take over completely. He vaguely thought he heard someone call his name, but he was too far gone to acknowledge them.

He fell into the awaiting arms of darkness.

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Forest sounds echoed eerily in the night, breaking the vast expanse of black silence that was common during the night. The large acre of forest was abruptly cut off by a large round mound, a natural cave that had been carved by erosion into the towering pillar of rock that made up one of many surrounding cliffs.

Faintly, the quiet sound of dripping water could be heard from within the cave. Suddenly, a fascinated breath of surprise echoed loudly from inside. Deep within the cave, a pair of hands ran gently across the crags and crystals in the cave wall.

The figure was not fully visible, but the dim outline of a man could clearly be seen. The man blinked, his pupils straining to adjust to the thick blanket of darkness. A deep womanly voice suddenly echoed throughout the cave walls, breaking the man from his wandering thoughts and startling several bats.

"Judai, would you like to use my eyes?" To anyone other that Yuki Judai, that question wouldn't have made any sense whatsoever. However, he knew exactly what she was referring to and nodded, taking a deep breath as a power beyond human understanding flooded through his body. His eyes blinked open once more, revealing two mismatched orbs of amber and emerald green. The effect was immediate; everything in the cave suddenly became as clear as if he'd summoned the sun.

"Thanks, Yubel." Judai warmly responded, taking in the sight before him once more. The cave seemed to sparkle, as if amused by the awe of its visitors. Judai chuckled before turning to acknowledge his two closest duel spirits, who had become transparent beside him. "What do you think?"

"_Kuri, Kuri!" _Hane Kuriboh answered happily in his own language, flapping happily around Judai's messy mop of brown and orange hair. He laughed, seemingly understanding the creature's words before turning back to the other duel spirit, his eyes softening tenderly of their own accord.

"Yubel…"

The dragon like creature smiled warmly at him, reaching out to softly caress a lock of hair that had fallen across Judai's eyes---her eyes. It's wonderful, Judai. Maybe hiding out here wasn't such a risky idea after all…"

Judai chuckled in amusement, "Well, I guess it might be an appropriate time for the famous line, 'I told you so,' correct?"

"I believe it would be difficult for almost anyone to locate you with those articles of clothing." Yubel pointed out smugly, smirking when for a few moments, Judai pouted childishly.

As Yubel had said, Judai would be exceedingly difficult to locate due to the sheer amount of black he wore. He stood in a long black trench coat, slightly resembling the one that his friend Manjoume, a somewhat cocky boy that had once been an inheritor of the Manjoume corporation. He also wore an intimidating looking choker collar around his neck. In fact, the only things that weren't black or frightening were his faded white sneakers, which were torn in various places and in desperate need of a thorough wash; evidence that he'd been forced to hike through miles of mountainous terrain.

"At least I blend in, unlike _you_." Judai snorted, waving his slender fingers toward Yubel's giant, bat-like wings.

"Then what do you call _this_?" Yubel motioned toward a small section of her leg in response, where the rock behind her was clearly visible. Judai rolled his eyes, having been reminded of her transparency.

"I meant in terms of _appearance_, so spare me the science and technicalities, Yubel." Judai snapped playfully, moving forward a few spaces in the cave. "Wow, this is definitely the most beautiful cave we've ever come across…"

Yubel nodded thoughtfully in agreement, stopping for a moment to pat Hane Kuriboh affectionately on the head before floating deeper into the cave. Judai followed her, awestruck by the beauty that surrounded him.

He was about to make another lighthearted comment, when his heightened senses began to run haywire. His thoughts were cut off as a prickle of pain danced behind his eyelids and he groaned. Both duel monsters glanced warily toward the ceiling, only Yubel spoke. "What on Earth _was _that massive wave of energy?!"

Judai stared in shock at the roof of the cave for only a few moments before he was knocked clean off his feet by another large tremor that must have shaken everything within a few miles. He gasped in pain as his head hit the hard ground with a loud 'crack', momentarily disorienting his vision.

It was gone just as quickly as it had started. Judai glanced around cautiously before slowly pulling his injured body to its feet, leaning heavily against the now solid form of Yubel, who'd reluctantly borrowed a little of his duel energy to maintain a solid appearance.

"What the _hell _was that?!" Judai exclaimed, his eyes displaying confusion and slight irritation. Just when he thought he would finally be able to maintain some sort of peace, something always had to happen to disrupt it all! What on Earth could he have done in his past or present life to deserve this?!

Yubel merely shook her head in response. She glanced worriedly down at the injured brunet in her arms, her motherly instincts taking over. "Judai, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but a little worse for the wear." He responded, glancing warily toward the roof once more as if he expected it to suddenly collapse. His fears were confirmed when he felt another small tremor shake the cave; an aftershock. "I think we need to leave; this roof could collapse any moment and we definitely don't want to be here when that happens."

Yubel nodded in agreement. She gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders and lifted him from the ground, her flying speed much more efficient than his speed would have been had he walked or run. Neither acknowledged Hane Kuriboh, who'd disappeared inside his card when the trouble first started.

"I wonder what that energy was; It was far too large to be an earthquake…" Yubel commented as they finally left the cave behind them and flew into the densest part of the forest. Upon landing behind a large slab of rock, Judai glanced gratefully up at his favorite monster before slipping gently out of her supporting arms and peering up at the sky from a distance. A large plume of debris was forming, indicating that Yubel's suspicions had been correct; it wasn't an earthquake.

"It looks like some sort of asteroid landing…" He commented, not taking his eyes off of the large cloud.

"Should we check it out, Judai?" Yubel was tense and ready to leap into action if he asked her to; she would do anything he asked after all. She'd made an eternal promise to protect him in return for his affections and she planned on keeping that promise with every breath she took.

"Not yet." He said, glancing at Yubel once before explaining himself. "We can't afford to come out of hiding right now. As far as we know, this could be another disturbance by _them_. We need to stay low and keep an eye on it from afar."

"I hear you." She nodded, seeing the sense in his words. He truly had grown a lot over the years; when he was younger, he would have dashed into the situation without so much as considering the consequences. Now a full-grown man, his experiences had taught him a lot about caution. "We need to get out of here, then."

"Yes." He stated, surveying the area quickly before standing and brushing off the dust and dirt. "Come on, let's go this way."

She followed him obediently as he took off, his intention clearly to put as much space between them and the danger as possible. She glanced behind them once more before disappearing with him into the darkness.

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He couldn't see or hear anything. A searing pain that erupted from the uppermost hair on his head to the tips of his toes overwhelmed his senses. He groaned in pain, registering that he must have passed out somehow.

Cloudy green eyes blinked open, widening automatically in order to adjust to the darkness that coated every particle of air. He slowly attempted to move his left arm, gasping loudly when the abused limb protested in pain. He vaguely registered that he was on the ground facing the midnight sky. The moon shone down upon him with its healing rays, comforting him slightly.

"Eh…" Another painful grunt nearby forced Johan to glance to his left; his eyes widened when he saw the others struggling to their feet. "Everyone!"

"You all right over there, Johan?" Jim responded first, stumbling over the few feet that lay between them.

"I…" Johan tried to struggle to his feet as well, but failed miserably and landed in Jim's awaiting arms. "Agh…"

"You're not all right! Did you hit something during the landing?!" Jim questioned frantically, concern heavily evident in his dark green eyes.

"Don't worry; I'll be fine just…can't walk right now." Johan smiled sheepishly up at Jim, almost glancing back again when he thought he noticed a light blush spreading across the other's face. "Jim?"

"Eh…right." Jim responded, wrapping his arms gently around Johan's waist to support him; he was too tall to use his shoulders to carry him. "Is everyone else all right?"

"We're fine!" Asuka called from where she was crouched beside Shou, doing her best to coax him to his feet, but to no avail. "Shou?"

"Aniki…" He sobbed heavily, his fists clenching tightly against the cold, hard ground. "He didn't come back with us…he's gone!" He finished off with a small wail, feeling more vulnerable than he ever had in his life. He was sure that he had grown a lot over the years, but there were still times that the situations they always managed to get themselves into overwhelmed him---now seemed to be one of those times.

"Come to think of it…Edo, Cronos-sensei, and Fubuki are gone too…" Johan pointed out, glancing around nervously for any trace of their friends, disappointed when he found none. "Damn…"

"That idiot, Judai!" Manjoume exclaimed, having heard Shou's muffled words. "He'd better hope that he doesn't come back because I'll pound him when he does!"

Asuka and Kenzan glared half-heartedly at the headstrong teenager, but he took no heed of their silent warnings and merely continued grumbling to himself.

"So, where are we?" O'Brien asked after a moment, glancing warily at their surroundings. They seemed to have crash landed in a clearing of some sort; definitely not where they were supposed to be.

"Well, we're not home, I can tell you that much." Jim muttered, his eyes drawn automatically toward the sky; it had become second nature to him while he'd had his oricalcum eye, but it was gone now. "Wherever we are, it seems to be the middle of the night, though. We should probably find some sort of shelter."

They all nodded in agreement, exhaustion taking its toll on them. First they had explored a different dimension, and then were sacrificed, and now it seemed that they were somehow transported to the wrong dimension on the way back home.

"You okay down there-don?" Kenzan questioned, gently pulling Shou to his feet. He nodded lightly, wiping the tears that still stained his cheeks.

"I'm all right, thanks." Shou sniffed, his eyes showing that everything clearly wasn't all right. He'd finally made amends with Judai, only to have him ripped away. Judai was his Aniki---the only one he looked up too and respected as much as his big brother, Ryou.

Ryou…

He choked back another cry, remembering for the first time since their arrival that his real big brother was no longer with them. Although everyone that had been sacrificed had been returned, even if they weren't necessarily with them, there was no guarantee that Ryou had come back with them. Shou couldn't help but consider the frightening possibility that perhaps Ryou was really gone and _wouldn't _come back. In the end, his loss had come down to his heart condition, so maybe it had been too much for even Hell Kaiser to overcome…?

No! He shook his head harshly to rid himself of those thoughts, clenching his fists tight once more. He had to believe that Ryou would come back someday, just as he would believe in Judai. After all, if he didn't believe in something, then what _did _he have to hold on to?

"We'll have to find the others later. Right now, we have to worry about getting us out of the open." Jim began, but was interrupted by O'Brien.

"Hate to interrupt you there, but we've got ourselves some company!" O'Brien shouted, his eyes fixated on something in the distance as he reached automatically for his war equipped duel disk. "Not the pleasant kind, either!"

They all tensed, knowing they weren't ready for any sort of a physical fight and as far as they knew, they wouldn't be able to summon their monsters in the dimension they had landed in. All were beginning to feel a bit exposed, except for O'Brien and Jim, who had more experience in physical fighting.

Sure enough, a group of figures stomped out of the forest ahead of them, not seeming to care how much noise they were making. Several of them seemed to be angry and were waving their arms above their heads in exasperation. Everyone tensed even further when they realized that these people were indeed dangerous and _armed_---each individual man held an assortment of guns in their hands and jackets. All were dressed in black, clearly for the sole purpose of getting around unseen.

The teenagers went unnoticed by the armed men for several moments before the leader---this could be deduced by the overload of equipment that he was wearing---turned abruptly and spotted them, immediately shouting orders to those behind them.

Johan's eyes widened considerably when he realized that the men had been ordered to shoot; apparently they were considered a threat. Jim's hold around his frail body tightened considerably; an unspoken promise of protection. Johan glanced worriedly up at the other boy, sending his thanks through his eyes rather than through words. He knew that this wasn't necessary, but he still felt the need to do it.

"Get down!" O'Brien shouted, moving forward to shield himself with his disk when several gunshots ran through the clearing, sending up clouds of dirt and dust into the teenager's faces. They all obeyed, but one single cry of pain was heard as a stray bullet hit Jim who had barely moved in the nick of time to prevent it from hitting Johan.

"Jim!" Asuka called, gasping when the older boy kneeled over, shaking as blood began pouring out of his wounded leg. Johan's face paled considerably as he saw the blood, glancing up to Jim's even paler face.

"Why did you do that?!" Johan shouted, moving to shield Jim's body from further harm. "I can take care of myself, you know!"

"That doesn't matter; we're friends, that means that we have to look out for each other, right?" Jim smiled back at him, not bothering to complain when Johan took the time to rip a small piece of Jim's undershirt off to wrap tightly around the wound.

The shots halted after a moment and O'Brien glanced in frustration toward his duel disk when he noticed the amount of smoke that was rising up off his weapon; it clearly wasn't going to last much longer.

Shou gasped when he realized that the men were preparing to launch another barrage of bullets toward them and immediately ducked lower to the ground, for the first time reveling in his small size. He glanced up with his left eye when a shadow covered his form, noticing that Kenzan knelt in front of him, protecting him from the blast, He was about to protest, but he didn't have enough time to utter so much as a word before the bullets were upon them once more.

They unconsciously closed their eyes tightly, not wanting to see the men advancing toward them nor the projectiles shooting rapidly toward their quivering bodies. Even Manjoume looked frightened, which was something that didn't happen very often.

Suddenly, the leader cut his men off and began issuing separate orders as several different voices erupted from the bushes nearby, startling the kneeling duelists. They risked a moment to crack their eyes open, only to have them widen considerably when they noticed several of the men _falling to the ground, _each having been kicked harshly in the head.

The figure responsible for the attack lept to his right to dodge another man that has escaped his earlier attempts; he was about to attack once more only to run into another one coming up on his left side. He began to curse loudly, but several gunshots silenced the profanities spilling from his mouth. Two men were coming up behind him, nodding at him encouragingly. His friends had finally caught up with him and were covering his back.

"Who are they?" Manjoume questioned, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to focus on the figures in the darkness.

"I don't know; I can't see anything!" Shou pointed out, motioning not only to his glasses but also to the bulk body in front of him. "Kenzan, can you see anything?"

"No!" He replied, looking equally as put out as everyone else. "It's too dark-don!"

"Whoever they are, it seems they're on our side." Him commented from where he sat, his arms still wrapped tightly around Johan, despite his heavy protests that he didn't need protecting. "It looks like they're winning too!"

Sure enough, several of the armed men had begun to retreat, ignoring their leader's orders to stay and fight. The bulky man screamed in frustration and followed his troops into the forest, realizing that he didn't have any chance of defeating these skilled fighters by himself.

Realizing that their fight was indeed won, the figures made their way toward the shocked teens kneeling on the ground, looking ready to spring up and fight should their instincts be wrong and they be enemies.

They couldn't help but gasp when three familiar figures emerged from the darkness, causing confusion.

"O'Brien, Jim, and Manjoume?!"

AN: End of first chapter! **–Pants- Wow.** Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not claim to own YuGiOh Gx. This fanfic is purely fanmade, hence, 'fanfic'. I really don't understand why I have to type these up **_**every single chapter, **_**but I do it anyway because it takes up almost a hundred words every time. Lol**

**So, the second chapter to this installment. This chapter is mostly explaining, so I apologize if you grow bored. However, I will do my best to entertain you somehow. I also apologize if some of the older characters are OOC, because…well...they **_**are **_**different. I mean, people change after a while (Judai being a prime example), so they're obviously not going to be the same.**

**Another important note. I'm going to call the characters by their first names if they aren't called that already. For instance, Austin, Jun…Now, for the rest of them…I think that I'll have to either experiment with bold and italics (which I'd rather not do, as it messes with the flow of the writing) or come up with something else to call them. But for now, they will be referred to as 'O. Jim', which means "older", etc. Please excuse how this disrupts the flow. I may drop it if their younger counterparts are not in the room with them, because it therefore becomes unnecessary. **

**I would also like to apologize because of how slow my updates have been appearing. I haven't had much time since finals started, but school is over for the summer. I have a lot of stuff to do this summer though, so things might get a little bit hectic. I want to devote more of myself to my writing though, so I will do my best to please everyone! I also have a contest that I challenged my best friend to. I have to write 9 one-shots and one drabble collection fic centered on different themes, which I've already chosen. We're competing against each other, obviously. I asked her to do this so that I could get my creativity back. I need to write more often, especially since I do intent to go professional. So, I will be spending a lot of time writing those. Pray I win! :D**

**Chapter Two: Time Paradox**

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Needless to say, the teenagers were shocked to see mirror images of themselves, looking a little confused, but otherwise not very shaken up at the discovery of the injured teens.

"Misawa was right, I see. Looks like the situation is worse than we originally predicted, " Jun assessed, his eyes drifting over each of them, taking in every scratch and smudge on their skin and clothes. "Is anyone other than Jim badly hurt?"

"No, we were only scratched," Asuka replied, startled when his warm gaze landed on her. He seemed to linger for a few moments before turning around to help Austin and O. Jim assess Jim's injury.

'_What was that?' _Asuka questioned silently, her eyes following the black haired man with confusion. His look had been startling---almost loving! Sure, she knew that Manjoume liked her, but it couldn't possibly be that he _still _liked her that way in the future, right? Surely he would have moved on to someone else by then…

"Why are you all wearing black?" Shou broke out of his defensive and quiet state to question the older males, earning a few looks of confusion among his friends. "I mean, I know that Manjoume wears black all the time, but why are you both wearing black?"

"Camouflage mate," O. Jim responded, waiting for Austin's nod of approval before continuing. "We need to stay hidden; otherwise we risk our hideout being exposed. We're the only three that have been trained in physical combat, although the rest can handle guns. We've been trying to keep the others out of the fight for the time being."

Shou nodded, his curiosity satisfied for the moment. His mind was reeling, though. Was his brother alive in this time? Would Judai be with them all at the base? Who were those armed men that had attacked them and why was everybody fighting? He wanted to ask these questions, but something told him to keep silent, that everything would soon be answered.

Suddenly, a grunt of pain was heard and everyone turned to see that his older counterpart was carrying Jim, unable to walk, on his back. "Come on, we need to get back to headquarters so we can treat your wounds. Besides, we're not safe here."

"But-" Manjoume meant to interrupt and get some answers, but was quickly silenced by O'Brien.

"It's best that we do what he says for now. Once we're rested and our injuries have been treated, then we can discuss the situation."

Manjoume's eyebrow twitched in irritation, but he refrained from commenting.

"Right then. You all settle behind me." O. Jim started walking down an almost hidden path in the vegetation, which they would have missed were it not for his sharp eye. "Keep up now, mates!"

Although a bit reluctant, the others followed behind Jim, Austin and Jun flanking their sides in case they were ambushed on the way back. Noticing that Asuka had fallen behind the group, Johan slowed his pace a bit until it matched hers so that they could talk without being overheard.

"Asuka, is something wrong?" Johan inquired a bit nervously. He really didn't know Asuka well. He'd only spoken to her probably once or twice. However, she'd looked so…lost that he couldn't help but ask her.

"Yeah…I'm just a little uneasy about this whole situation," Asuka replied, her voice wavering slightly. No, she was more than a little uneasy. She was downright _terrified. _First she'd been sacrificed and was trapped in a strange dimension and now she was trapped in the future and had been _shot at _several times upon arriving. Johan knew that the others felt the same way as she did, so he didn't inquire further. She was hiding something, that much was obvious, but it wasn't his place to pester her about it.

"Hang on; I'll call the base to make sure the others know what's going on," Austin suddenly spoke, a small black cell phone in hand. "We'll need to have Asuka ready with first aid before we get there so Jim doesn't lose too much blood."

Carefully, they all stopped and huddled around a single large tree, Jun standing guard to protect them "automatically". The others eyed him nervously when they noticed for the first time that he did indeed have a large gun on the inside of his jacket. They grew even more nervous when he reached for it, presumably out of habit, and twirled it uneasily around his fingers.

Austin was talking hurriedly into the cell phone, his tone hushed and urgent. Suddenly, he nodded in confirmation and held the contraption out to Jun, who took it gratefully as Austin took his place standing guard.

"Asuka?" The teen glanced up upon hearing her own name, only to realize that Manjoume was talking into the cell phone. "Don't worry; it wasn't any of us who were injured. I assume that O'Brien explained everything?"

He nodded a few times as response to what she said; only responding verbally when she was finished. "We'll be back in a few minutes, so get everyone ready okay?" Suddenly, his voice lowered until the others could no longer make out what it was that he was saying, and he spoke quietly into the speaker before flipping the phone closed and tossing it to Austin, who caught it with ease.

"She's getting everyone ready. She says that they heard the gunshots. Chances are, the organization will probably go into hiding for at least a few hours before trying to attack us again, but we can't be too sure."

"Right, so everyone should be on the lookout for any possible danger." O. Jim warned before beginning the trek through the woods once more.

"How much longer?" Kenzan asked suddenly, having been quiet for a while. He snuck a glance at the smaller boy beside him. Shou needed to rest soon, which much was apparent. He didn't have longer legs like everyone else, so he had to put forth twice the effort to keep up with their brisk pace. Despite his determination, it was obvious that the younger Marufuji brother was falling behind.

"We're here, actually." Jun responded, herding them all toward what seemed to be a random tree. They all glanced at each other in confusion, not understanding why they were stopping in the middle of nowhere.

"Um…where's your headquarters…?" Johan asked after a moment, his eyes reflecting confusion and exhaustion. The others had similar looks on their faces.

Jun smirked for a moment before bending down and pushing away a bit of dust and dirt off a spot on the ground. The teens were shocked to see a device hidden underneath the natural layers of the forest floor. Jun pressed a few buttons, which seemed to be some sort of code, because suddenly the ground was pushed away to reveal a trap door.

"There's a ladder. Be careful on the way down, but do it quickly because the organization could appear at any time." Austin warned, watching with curious eyes as Manjoume made his way down the hole first.

"It's really dark down here!" Manjoume exclaimed, his voice seeming to echo off of the small space. The others followed him down a bit more carefully.

Once everyone was safely down, Austin crept down the hole as well, shutting the trap door behind him.

"Hey, I can't see anything-don!" Kenzan exclaimed, voicing the thoughts of his companions. The space was pitch black without the small amount of light from the trap door, which actually made more of a difference than the teens had originally assumed.

Suddenly, the space was lit and everyone flinched with the exception of O. Jim and Austin, who were already used to this display. Jun was holding up a torch, which had been lit by a match he'd kept in his pocket for situations like these.

"Let's keep going." O. Jim stated, beginning to look a little tired from the combined weight of Jim and himself.

"You know, come to think of it, I just realized something," Asuka suddenly spoke, startling everyone. "Jim, where's Karen?"

"Probably with everyone else that's missing, tomorrow girl." Jim replied and Asuka rolled her eyes, finding his nickname for her a little irritating in their current situation.

"Speaking of which, I'm surprised she's not with you." Manjoume spoke to Jim's older counterpart, not noticing his flinch.

"Karen's dead." O. Jim replied, not bothering to look back at the teens' shocked faces. "She died last year."

"I-I'm sorry." Asuka spoke after a moment, feeling her insides drop. She'd been reminded of reality; that there was a possibility that some of them could be dead already. This wasn't a game or a dimension where you were merely sent to another as a form of death. No, death was real here.

"It's quite all right. She'd been sick, so I'm glad that she isn't suffering anymore." O. Jim responded, brightening up suddenly when he saw a light up ahead. "We're here."

The teens blinked in surprise, having not noticed that the light was now upon them. They could hear faint voices from farther down the hall, but their older selves didn't seem to be too concerned.

They passed through a hole in the wall, only to jump back in surprise when a flash of blonde blew at them.

"Jun!" In a blink, he was enveloped in the warm embrace of the blonde girl, chuckling softly in amusement. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! I thought you'd been shot!"

"Sorry, Asuka," Jun apologized, pulling back to stare into her eyes for a moment before turning back to the others. "He's over there; do you think that you can handle it?"

O. Asuka immediately rushed over to where O. Jim was setting Jim down on the ground, careful to avoid hitting his injury. As she bent down to assess the situation, the group of teens took the time to observe her. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, much different from what she'd always wore as a teenager. Of course, it was probably due to her unique circumstances. She was forced to live in an underground hideout. Nobody bothered to inquire.

"Come on back, the others are waiting for you," O. Asuka spoke, gently helping Jim to his feet, which was also being supported by his older self. "I have the kit ready. There isn't much more that I can do other than remove the bullet from the wound and clean it out."

"Will it get infected?" Johan asked suddenly, his eyes shining with worry.

"Hopefully not if it's cleaned correctly," O. Asuka replied as they stepped through another passageway into a furnished area.

When they walked through, they noticed that someone was sleeping deeply on the couch. They realized that it was O. Johan, who looked exhausted.

"He's been sick," O. Asuka explained quietly, helping Jim to sit on a different couch. "We're still not sure what it was. He suddenly collapsed and started having seizures. We would have taken him to the hospital, but the only one that we could go to was destroyed by the organization."

"Is it really serious?" Shou inquired, doing his best to avoid staring at the pale boy in the couch. It was obvious that something was definitely wrong; his skin was an unnatural chalky white hue and his breathing was harsh and labored.

"We don't know…he seems to be getting a little better though. He does seem worried, but he won't talk to us about it." As Jim settled down on the couch, O. Asuka dragged the first aid kit over from where it sat on a nearby table and began to dig through it for the items she needed, pulling on her gloves as she did so.

It was silent for a few minutes as O. Asuka treated Jim's wound. The teens crowded together, all feeling uneasy.

"There, you should be fine now." O. Asuka sighed in relief, removing her gloves and wiping her hands on her jeans, ignoring the shocked looks sent her way at the action. "Now, we have to go to the meeting room. Misawa has something important to tell us."

"Misawa? But didn't we leave him behind in the Dark World-don?" Kenzan questioned, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Originally, yes. However, Misawa managed to create a portal between the worlds and has been using it to travel back and forth for years," O. Jim replied, his gaze drifting toward the sickly man on the couch. Almost as if a switch had been pressed inside his head, his eyes automatically softened as he knelt down before the other male, holding his hand gently to Johan's forehead.

"Johan? Johan, wake up mate." He spoke urgently. The sick man groaned in pain and tried to turn over in his sleep, only to roll onto a sore spot and hiss.

Dull green eyes slowly opened to take in the sight of O. Jim leaning over him, a look of confusion and worry clouding his face. "How are you feeling, Johan?"

"Hot…it's really hot…" O. Johan answered, crossing his arms protectively across his chest. "Argh…damn it."

"Hey now…I know you feel really sick, but we have to go and see what Misawa has to say." O. Jim spoke gently, stroking Johan's teal hair in a calming gesture. "Come on, you can sleep afterward."

"O-Okay." O. Johan slowly dragged his body into a sitting position and tried to stand, only for his knees to give out on him immediately. O. Jim reached out to grasp his waist, letting him lean tiredly into his chest.

"Don't worry mate, I'll help you." The Australian grinned down at the sickly man, gently guiding him into the other room.

To everyone's surprise, the others were already waiting there for them. The furnishings in this room consisted of a few worn couches, which had been dragged into a circular formation to accommodate meetings. Everyone was already seated on the couches and looked up instantly when their younger selves entered, although to didn't appear too surprised.

However, Rei jumped up in alarm when she noticed that O. Jim was carrying O. Johan along. "Why did you bring him along?! He should be resting! He's still pretty sick…"

O. Jim carefully placed O. Johan on his own couch so that he could lie down. He made sure that the sick man was comfortable before turning to acknowledge his younger friend.

"Well mate, as much as I agree with you, this is a very important meeting and he has to be here in order to understand the situation." O. Jim responded, his one good eye reflecting worry and a tinge of irritation. It was obviously not directed at the girl herself but rather his frustration over Johan's continuing sickness.

"Now that you're all here, let's get started." Misawa spoke up for the first time, gesturing for the teens to take a seat on the couches. They reluctantly obeyed.

"Now, as you obviously know, you've been sent to the future." Manjoume glared irritably at Misawa for this and would have retorted along the lines of stating the obvious had Kenzan not elbowed him in the ribs to silence his protesting.

"I believe that this occurred because of what we called a 'time rip'. Last week, the organization managed to get ahold of one of my machines. It was still in the experimental stage. They must've used it mindlessly."

"And what exactly was this machine meant to do?" Asuka questioned, her confusion evident. "I mean, what was so special about it that one simple screw up would cause us to be sent to the future?"

"Well, it was actually meant to be a time traveling machine." Misawa admitted, trying to avoid becoming unnerved by the shocked stares of the younger counterparts. "I made it as a way to counter the organization originally, but they caught on to my plans and managed to thieve it from us. The result is that you're standing here with us."

"Wait---hold up-don!" Kenzan exclaimed after a second, standing up in his frustration. "Where does Aniki stand in all this? Shouldn't he be helping you?"

The room suddenly grew deathly quiet. It was as if an invisible hand had grasped the throats of every occupant in the room and sucked the breath from their gasping bodies. The air lost its crackle of excitement.

"Judai…we haven't seen him in years." Misawa explained, his expression pained. "We tried searching for him a few times, but we haven't found any clues as to his whereabouts until recently. I did find out that the organization is very intent upon finding him and using him for research, which may mean that he's nearby. The organization is staked out all over the place here."

"Why would they want to do research on Aniki?" Shou asked, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started.

"I believe that it may have something to do with what happened in the other dimension and the powers of darkness that he holds. He is very powerful and the organization must view him as a threat to their plans."

"And just what are these plans exactly?" Manjoume wondering aloud, his eyes narrowing dangerously upon the nervous science genius.

"That…I'm not too sure of yet. All I know is that we cannot let them find Judai just yet." Misawa's eyes drifted over every face. When he received no looks of confusion, he nodded in satisfaction and continued. "As much as I hate to say this, we have to move soon. It's only a matter of time before the organization learns of our headquarters and we are attacked."

"But we can't! You know that we can't move Johan in his condition!" O. Asuka exclaimed, standing up in alarm. "We don't even know what's wrong with him! For all we know, moving him could put him in a state of shock! Please wait a week at least!"

"I know Asuka, although we have no choice but to leave eventually," Misawa sternly replied, effectively, silencing O. Asuka's protest. "I'm as concerned about Johan as the rest of you, but I'm afraid that we cannot stay here too much longer. We are in much more danger than you comprehend, don't you understand?"

Throughout all this, O. Johan was silent on the couch, having appeared to fall asleep. Despite his appearance however, he was actually lost very deeply in thought.

'I can't tell them…I said I wouldn't…' He despised himself for this, but the man's warning echoed in his ears.

"We know where your friend Judai resides. If you so much as dare breathe a word to your precious friends, we'll make sure that he doesn't escape us alive."

By this time, the poison he'd been given had taken effect. O. Johan knew that it wouldn't kill him. It was meant to weaken but to never kill. He'd been attacked while patrolling several weeks before. It would eventually wear off on its own, but he couldn't tell them that.

"Then it's settled." He heard when he fell back into reality. "We leave exactly one week from now."

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**2****nd**** chapter…done. XD About time! Please let me know what you think! Jane~!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, this fantastic anime in any way. YuGiOh Gx is copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi.**_

_**All right, I'm back for the third installment to this fanfiction. Now, before we get to the chapter, I have some things I'd like to address first. **_

_**I would like to thank all of my reviewers for the second chapter! Also note that there will be a small parody at the end of the chapter (thanks to Zakksu, who decided to fill my head with hilarious ideas while we were discussing the second chapter). She wanted to see…the older Johan hitting on his younger self. XD I thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I decided to write a small parody (not actually in the chapter) at the end to satisfy the need to write that. Feel free to skip it or read it if you need a laugh.**_

_**Now, on to more serious matters.**_

_**I would like to address two anonymous reviewers who decided to take the time to review my fanfic, but sadly, their reviews were removed due to their rude nature. I will however, still freely answer them here.**_

_**I've been asked why I am using the Japanese names, because apparently, one user finds it unfit for me to use them and wants the English names and wants me to change it. My answer to this is:**_

_**…No, for several reasons. For one, I watch the Japanese dub more than the English and am more in tuned with the series in this fashion. Although I do occasionally write a story using the English universe, I very rarely do so because I prefer this one. I also have another reason, this being that although I do occasionally watch it for laughs and Johan's English voice (please do not take this to offense if you love the English version, for I am merely stating my reasoning and am not intending to offend you in any way), I actually find the dub to be a blunt disgrace of the anime and everything it stands for. As far as I'm concerned, it ruins the original and beautiful characterizations of the characters that I love and removes the drama and suspense that I adore about the original. To the user that complained (who also complained about not knowing the names), I have one suggestion, this being to get off your lazy ass and look them up like the others do. Hell, even I still do this every once in a while, mostly for the teacher's names since I haven't memorized their spelling. So, no, I will not change this in any way. If you feel offended kind user, please express your love for the English version on fanfics containing that universe and leave the originals well alone.**_

_**Now, the second one. There are several things I have to say for this as well. First of all user, why did you wait until the end of the chapter to go back and read the author's note about what pairings are in the story? I would have thought that putting the text in bold would be enough to signify it's importance, but apparently I was wrong, so I will now bold, italicize, and underline everything in my author's notes for those people that do not hold any form of common sense.**_

_**The second thing. As if you needed to degrade yourself further in my eyes, you proved to me that you have no respect for another's views, mainly because of your apparent lack of tact in your wording. You asked me why I'm ruining the story with all the 'gay stuff'. Well, let me tell you why, my ignorant fellow fanfiction user.**_

_**Because it's the idea I as the author, chose to put forth with this story. It's the idea I visualized when I came up with it, and continue to visualize as I write the story out. These are my favorite pairings and I hold every single right to include them in my story if I damn well please. If you do not like these kinds of pairings, then please find your entertainment elsewhere; these are the pairings I chose, and these are the ones that will be put in this story, whether you feel it appropriate or not. I do not need your permission or opinion on the characters and romances in my stories. Let this be a warning to all: I do NOT tolerate those kind of reviews. I find them incredibly rude and will not hesitate to press the lovely 'report' button. If you must critique, please do so on my spelling, grammar, and whatnot. Any blind flaming will be reported, or in the case of anonymous reviewers like these two, bluntly laughed at due to their extreme stupidity and deleted.**_

_**Now, for one last thing.**_

_**Next time, my dear anonymous flamers, please do us all the honor of presenting us with a valid review. Leaving flames under 'anonymous' not only proves to me that you do not feel that you can back up your words, but also proves to me that you're spineless cowards that don't have the balls to speak to me on normal terms and makes me laugh harder at you, to be honest. **_

_**That will be all. Thank you very much for your time! Please enjoy the story now.**_

**Chapter 3: Rusty Bars**

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Edo groaned softly as he slowly entered consciousness. His head throbbed painfully, but he forced his eyes to open despite this.

Needless to say, he was rather shocked to find himself sitting on the damp floor of a dark, obviously cockroach infested prison cell. Feeling slowly began returning to his previously numbed limbs, suggesting that he could have been under the effect of a drug of some sort. Edo's breath hitched in his throat when he suddenly felt a searing pain from both of his wrists.

Tilting his head slightly to the side, he caught sight of two identical pairs of strong, metal chains binding him to the cold brick wall behind him. There would be no miraculous escape anytime soon.

"Edo, you awake man?"

Edo blinked in surprise, startled to see that there were other cells on either side of his own. Upon further inspection, he noticed Fubuki straining at his chains to his left.

"Yeah, where the hell are we?" Edo called through the bars separating them, noticing nervously that his voice echoed in the foul dungeon. The hairs on the back of his head stood on end when he heard the harsh rasp of another's breathing, but he relaxed once he realized that it was merely Cronos and Karen in the cell to his right, both strapped down as well and still unconscious. Upon further inspection, Edo also noticed that Karen's chains were obviously electrified, preventing her from biting through her enormous full body chains.

'I see…they obviously aren't leaving any obvious chances for our escape…we might be in some serious trouble.'

"No clue," Fubuki replied, staring off into the distance and finally realizing that trying to break free was hopeless for now. "But judging from the fact that we're chained up and the others aren't with us, we're not where we're supposed to be."

'_Heh, you couldn't be any more right, Tenjoin.' _Edo took a moment to survey their predicament once more, surprised when a harsh smell suddenly bit into his nose.

"Argh, what _is _that?!"

As if on cue, Edo's cell door swung open with a loud screech to reveal a short, balding man with a harsh expression flickering on his face. Edo's eyes landed nervously on the heavy-duty gun strapped to his belt, but otherwise didn't allow any sort of emotion to show on his face.

Then, he noticed that the man was carrying a small plate of bread and a plastic cup of water.

"Good, you've awakened," the man sneered as he sauntered over to Edo, who glared up at him defiantly, refusing to be intimidated. "We're under strict orders to keep you all well nourished; you're lucky that our leader is feeling rather generous to spare your lives."

Edo blinked in surprise when his wrists were abruptly released from the chains. He winced when the pain hit him full on and glanced at them out of the corner of his eyes, not surprised to see the beginning of a flesh wound developing on both. _'This is bad…if that gets infected…'_

Suddenly, similar clanks alerted Edo that more men had arrived and were doing the same to his companions.

"Where are we, na no ne?!" Cronos cried fearfully as his chains were released, having just gained consciousness a few moments before. However, the man in his cell didn't release Karen, but left a large slab of meat just within her reach.

"All will be explained in due time. You are to eat quickly and then I am to bring all of you up to meet our leader, where you will be submitted to questioning and will learn of the reasoning's and consequences regarding your capture."

Edo gritted his teeth anxiously, a trickle of fear beginning to pool in his stomach. _'Can't we ever catch a break?!'_

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Dawn was slowly making its presence known when Judai stepped hesitantly into the clearing. His eyes narrowed slightly, focused intently upon the ground.

He knew that he really shouldn't risk being out in the open like this, given that the organization was still prowling around, but he couldn't simply sit still and wonder whether or not one of his friends had been injured.

He could briefly see the remains of his friend's harsh landing into the future. He'd still been watching from a distance when his friends saved their past selves, but he hadn't been able to spot their injuries. He didn't know much about the situation, but since his past self wasn't with the group that arrived, there was bound to be trouble.

As Judai took another cautious step, he heard a crunch beneath his feet. Startled, he bent down and picked up what appeared to be an arrowhead at first sight, but was in reality a special type of bullet that burst upon contact with a target. He bristled in alarm.

'_They were incredibly lucky to avoid being hit by one of these…they would've died on the spot,' _Judai thought as he continued to survey the area, summoning Yubel's eyes to see better in the still darkened clearing. _'They are in far more danger than they could ever imagine…man, I hate feeling so helpless!'_

He wanted to jump right in and help his friends, but he also knew that it wouldn't be the best option, especially since apparently it was _him _that the organization was after. Being the Prince of Darkness, Judai had found it easier than most would to avoid them thus far, but how long would his good luck last…?

Suddenly, Judai bristled when a small sound drifted toward his ears on the wind. A low crunch of leaves…

A loud crack hit his ears and Judai swore loudly as he lept out of the way of the impending bullet, his eyes darting around for the culprit. Almost immediately he spotted several armed men spilling out of the forest behind his current position and silently cursed himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He couldn't afford to make these careless mistakes!

Alarmed, Judai skillfully dodged another bullet and decided to take his chances fighting them. Fingering the gun hidden carefully in the folds of his trench coat, Judai glanced around once more to make sure that there wouldn't be any other men ambushing him from another direction and dashed straight toward the men, who were running at him just as quickly, guns raised and ready for attack.

'_**Judai, what are you doing?!' **_

Judai didn't even flinch when Yubel's concerned voice echoed in his mind and continued his assault.

'You know just as well as I do that we can't continue running forever! They mean business…and it's time to show them that so do I!'

Absently letting out a battle cry that sounded hoarse to his own ears, Judai smashed into the group of men, knocking the guns out of the hands of several in the front line. Others came spilling out of the trees and Judai cursed once more.

'I was trying to avoid using this…but it looks like I have no choice! Yubel, can you back me up?'

'_**Of course!' **_

Judai breathed deeply as the familiar sensation racked through him. It wasn't fully unpleasant, but it wasn't necessarily nice to feel either. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Yubel as she materialized by his side and immediately launched herself into the fray, causing several of the men to let out frightened shrieks at the sight of the humanoid duel monster.

At the same time, Judai whipped out his gun and fired several shots at the advancing men, doing his best to ignore the sick feeling that welled in his stomach when they fell to the ground, blood dripping freely from their wounds, _'I truly have no other choice…'_

"Look out, Judai!"

Judai started at Yubel's shriek and gasped in pain when he was struck in the back, sending him hurtling toward the ground. He landed with a dull thud and struggled to his knees, raising his gun to defend himself when the men were instantly upon him. Yubel struggled to make her way to his side, but it seemed to be impossible at this point.

'_What have I gotten myself into this time?!'_

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"Wake up, everyone! There's an emergency!"

Johan groaned as wakefulness was forced upon him abruptly. He finally managed to open his eyes when he felt someone shake his shoulders urgently. He blinked open his emerald green eyes to land on Jim's stressed face.

"We've got trouble, mate! And not the small kind, either!"

After hearing this, Johan immediately struggled into a sitting position, realizing that he must have fallen asleep on one of the couches. From the corner of his eye, he noticed his older self struggling to sit up as well, his face paling with every small movement. He wanted to run over there and offer his help, but his attention was caught when Austin swept into the room.

"Manjoume, I want you to stay here and guard everyone! Jim, I need you to come with me!"

"Right!" Johan watched absently when the older Jim emerged from a slit in the wall to his right, a large gun in hand.

"What's going on?!" Asuka questioned as she and the others were herded into the room like sheep by Jun, who was followed by everyone else's older selves.

"The organization's stirring up trouble. From the way they're shootin', I'd reckon they found Judai."

Several eyes widened at the thought of their friend running from a group of men with guns, but nobody said a word as Austin and O. Jim ran urgently down the tunnel that led to the exit.

"Don't worry, Judai can handle himself until they get there." Jun grunted as he slipped down the tunnel after them, taking out his own gun so that he could safely guard the opening.

Thoroughly shaken, Johan settled back down on one of the couches, his muscles tense and ready to send him darting in the other direction if need be. From the looks of things, the others were in similar positions.

"I wonder if it really is Aniki…" Shou suddenly spoke up, his voice shaky with fear. The others glanced at each other, obviously wondering the same thing.

"I don't think it's a matter of _if _it's Judai, but rather which _one_?" Misawa put in, causing a few looks of fear to cross the faces of the younger counterparts.

"But Judai didn't come back with us." Asuka pointed out, her gaze reflecting confusion.

"Yes, but he obviously must appear here sometime since our Judai is up and thriving," Misawa pointed out, a grave expression on his face. "For all we know, that could be your Judai out there who got mistaken for ours."

Johan felt his face pale at the very thought, and instead decided to focus on thinking the situation over, knowing that it would provide a suitable distraction.

'Please be all right, Judai…'

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Judai sighed in relief when Yubel finally reached him and used her claws to knock many of the men attempting to get at him unconscious. He absently allowed his hand to drift to the open wound on his right leg, where thin streams of blood dripped downward. Although he'd dodged most of the attacks, he still wasn't agile enough to dodge them all…

Silently thanking his luck that it wasn't one of the more powerful burst bullets, Judai clenched his teeth in pain and stumbled out of the way as another man got through Yubel's defense and attempted to attack from the left side.

'I need to escape…I'd like to think that I can take them all down with just Yubel and my other monsters helping me, but with a wound like this I need to get out of here before this situation turns ugly!'

"Yubel, we need to retreat! We've done all we can for now!" Judai shouted as he attempted to weave through some of the men, growling deep in his throat when more ran out to block his way.

"I don't see any way that we can accomplish that, Judai!" Yubel replied, cutting through another wave of armed men. "Reinforcements keep arriving, and if we attempt to escape by flying they'll be all over us!"

Judai cursed under his breath again, willing his leg to last him a few more minutes as he finally broke free from the group of assaulting men and dashed across the clearing.

Suddenly, a burst of scorching hot pain ran through his body, effectively sending him spiraling to the ground in a heap. He gasped as white flashed behind his eyelids. One of the men must have shot him from behind.

"Judai!"

He could vaguely hear Yubel making her way toward his still form, but was too far-gone to acknowledge her. The last thing he heard was another fearful cry of his name, although it didn't seem to be from Yubel. It sounded like---

Judai fell into darkness.

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Edo forced himself to remain calm as he was yanked not too gently into a well-furnished room. He blinked as light flooded his vision, temporarily blinding him as his eyes fought to adjust to the abrupt change in lighting from the darkness of the dungeon he'd woken up in. His stomach churned with nervousness when he noticed a man sitting at a polished wood desk on the opposite side of the room from where he was standing, but forced down the feeling of nausea that was slowly creeping through his system. At this time, the other men forced both Fubuki and Cronos through the door to join him.

"Now, now men, I suggest you be a little more careful with how you handle our guests." The man chastised, his eyes, which were closed upon their entering, blinking open to reveal dark gray orbs that seemed to be made of steel.

'_Guests my ass!' _Edo chanted silently, sighing in relief when the men immediately let go of their iron grip on his arms. He could already feel a bruise forming at the spots where he'd been drug around.

"You are dismissed. I shall call you if I have any problems." The man waved his hand and the other men scrambled out of the room quickly, as if afraid he would suddenly turn on them. Had it been any other situation, Edo would have raised an eyebrow at this action, but as it was, he could feel the man's hard eyes staring holes into his dirty, silver suit.

"I advise that you all take a seat." The man spoke again, waving in the direction of several chairs parked against the wall nearest his desk. Edo was sorely tempted to simply refuse, but decided to go along with the man's demands for now.

They all sat down.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here."

Edo forced himself to nod absently, biting his tongue to hold back the harsh words threatening to spill from his lips. First he was thrown into another dimension and nearly died for good, and now he was a prisoner.

Yes, Edo was one unhappy camper.

Satisfied that he wasn't about to let his tongue slip, Edo finally allowed his eyes to fully take in the man before them.

The man was obviously middle aged, as his head was missing one large patch of hair at the top and his skin was beginning to wrinkle with age. Yet, he sat proudly, his shoulders squared in a way that echoed power and force. His black suit was without a single crease and it fit him perfectly, leaving Edo with no doubt that it had been specifically made to suit this man's needs.

They were in more danger than Edo had originally perceived.

"Excuse me, but it seems that I've failed to introduce myself properly. My name is Daiki and I am the head of this military organization."

'_Daiki…large and valuable…such a fitting name.' _Edo thought sarcastically, glancing to his side to see how the others were holding up. To his surprise, Fubuki held a look of stone on his face, no emotion leaking through the barrier that he'd erupted around himself. Cronos was glancing back and forth around the room, not one to hide his nervousness.

"Do you find my company distasteful, Phoenix Edo?"

Edo started in shock upon hearing his name, a sense of panic working through his system. _'This man knows who we are…then this was no accidental capture.'_

"No, I was merely wondering why one of such high acquaintance would summon us here." Edo spoke, forcing his tone of voice to sound respectful and formal, not wanting to anger the one in charge of their situation. He saw Fubuki glance at him quickly in confusion, but sent him a quick glance that relayed his message clearly.

'Just go along with it…'

"I believe you are all familiar with the one known as Yuki Judai, correct?"

Edo's eyes widened in surprise. "Judai?"

"Ah, so that would be a yes," Daiki stood and worked his way to stand in front of them, a smirk emerging on his face. "I have brought you here to ask for your cooperation in finding him. You shall be the bait that lures Yuki Judai to us."

"And if we refuse?" Cronos spoke up bravely; small beads of sweat rolling down his neck from nervousness.

"There is no refusal." Daiki snapped his finger and almost instantly they found themselves surrounded by a group of men with heavy-duty guns.

Edo inhaled deeply, doing his best to hide the panic from his voice. "What do you want us to do, exactly?"

Daiki chuckled darkly, waving his hands to dismiss the armed men. He waited until the room was cleared of them before answering.

"Do…why, you won't have to do anything. Just sit back and make yourselves comfortable; good bait sits still and waits for the hunter."

'Man, how are we gonna get out of this mess?'

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Asuka! We need you, now!"

Johan jolted out of his thoughts instantly when Austin's voice echoed throughout the base, sending the others into a flurry of movement. O. Asuka jumped up instantly and ran to meet Austin and Jim in the tunnel. Johan swallowed the panic that threatened to overwhelm him when a startled scream echoed from the doorway.

"Oh my God, what happened?!"

"We've found two bullet wounds; one on his leg and the other on his back. He's lost a lot of blood…the fool must've attempted to fight them all by himself!"

There were a few noises that Johan couldn't identify and then suddenly O. Asuka, Austin, and O. Jim ran into the room.

That's when they noticed the bleeding figure Austin carried on his back.

"Judai!"

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Somewhere nearby, a loud crash signified that someone else had made a crash landing into this world…. Another someone that didn't belong there.

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_**Sorry for the short chapter guys! And now for the small scene that I promised…O. Johan hitting on Johan! XD lol Enjoy Zakksu, this is just for you.**_

Johan sighed as he settled down on one of the couches; his discomfort going unnoticed by everyone except himself…his older self, to be exact.

"Are you okay?"

Johan jumped slightly and turned to see that while he'd been lost in thought O. Johan had snuck up on his right side and was sitting next to him, a worried look on his pale face.

"Y-Yeah, why?"

O. Johan furrowed his brow in disbelief, but then after a moment, smiled.

"W-What's that look for?" Johan asked when O. Johan flashed him a look of…

'_Is that what I think it is?!'_

O. Johan chuckled, his smile growing bigger. "You're cute."

Johan nearly fell off the couch in surprise and didn't manage to hold back the blush that kissed his cheeks when O. Johan ruffled his hair, smirking in a knowing way.

"Cheer up."

He then left the couch to converse with Jim, who began fussing over him due to his recent sickness.

Johan merely blinked in confusion.

"What the hell…?"

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_**There you go, Zakksu. You happy now? lol**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh Gx. This fanmade was made purely of my own invention, although the characters below to solely Kazuki Takahashi. I am borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.**

**Okay, so I no longer have a beta. I'm just letting you know since there will be more grammar mistakes than before. However, I hope that it doesn't take away from the actual feel of the story itself, which I shall gradually build up. ^^ I'm sorry that updates for this are so slow…I have no excuse. I just don't sit down and focus on this one much, even though it's my most important one. XD Funny how my logic works. I've been working on Shadows of the Heart and my new one, Path of Hell. I'm a bad girl and never finishes everything before starting a new one. X3 **

**Also, a reviewer said it was confusing and that they couldn't follow it. Well, I'm sorry that you can't, but I can't write this any other way. xD**

**Anyway, on to chapter 4! =D **

**Chapter 4: Innocent Blood**

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Johan stumbled back over to the couch he'd been sitting on before, feeling more than a little sick to his stomach. The stench of blood was becoming too much to ignore and seemed to feel every inch of the room. Shou followed him, looking to be in a similar state of shock. His face was as pale as a white sheet, and his eyes were wide and filled with moisture.

"Set him down here!" O. Asuka ordered as Rei immediately dragged a dusty brown mat out of a hidden crevice in the wall. There was no time to clean or sanitize it, so there was a high risk of Judai catching an infection from his open wounds, but it was the best they had to work with at the moment.

"Which…?" Kenzan breathlessly questioned, his posture tense. From his position, he couldn't properly see Judai's face…

Johan froze, realizing that they didn't know which one it was as of yet. _What if…?_

"Ours…" O. Asuka stated as she quickly unzipped Judai's bloody jacket, revealing the black t-shirt that he wore underneath. It was just as she'd feared: he was lying in a large pool of his own blood.

"Oh my God…he looks like…" O. Shou breathed, speaking up for the first time. His eyes were stormy with worry, but he refrained from running forward and getting in O. Asuka's way as she carefully treated O. Judai.

"Is that…a scar?" Asuka spoke suddenly, her trembling hands clasping together at her chest in a vain attempt to slow her racing heartbeat and regain her composure.

Startled by her exclamation, the others leaned in for a closer look. Sure enough, upon further inspection, they noticed a long jagged scar along the curve of O. Judai's damp face. It wasn't bloody, so it must've been an old wound.

"Whatever it is, looks like it never healed correctly," Manjoume commented, narrowing his eyes in disgust when O. Asuka ripped the shirt from O. Judai's body and threw the bloody mass to the side.

"Jim, give me the bandages and pliers! We need to get the bullets out, now!"

O. Jim handed over the items and the gang reluctantly looked away when Asuka began probing around with the pliers to reach the bullet in his back. Despite being unconscious, O. Judai gasped loudly in pain when O. Asuka finally reached her target, his face paling a bit further.

"Is…he..all right? " Johan turned to see his older self struggling to his feet, his face ashen with shock and sickness. He attempted to move forward to see the brunet better, but his feet gave out at the last second and he stumbled forward…

…Into O. Jim's awaiting arms, which wrapped securely around him as he steadied himself.

"Why are you pushing yourself so hard, mate?! You know Judai, he's a fighter! Now, please go lay down before you have another seizure!"

O. Johan looked as if he was going to object, but then suddenly, his eyes grew wide and a trembling gasp left his lips.

Instantly, he collapsed to the floor.

"Johan!"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Judai! Wake up, Judai!"

Deep within the forest, a loud groan was heard as the brunet gained consciousness. He blinked open his chocolate brown irises to look into the two-colored eyes of a transparent Yubel. "Y-Yubel…?"

"Finally!" Yubel exclaimed, relief reflecting on her face. "We've got a serious problem!"

Judai blinked, his mind slowly processing his surroundings. He could tell instantly that he wasn't anywhere _near _where they were supposed to be. Where were the lush green trees that were characteristic to Duel Academy? As he listened closer, he realized that he also couldn't hear the gentle rush of the ocean waves on the shore, which indicated that he definitely wasn't near Duel Academy.

"W-Where are we?" Judai groaned in pain as he sat up. His whole body was aching as if a flying truck, which considering he'd traveled through dimensions, wasn't entirely out of the question, had hit him. "I feel like hell."

"And you look it, too," Yubel teased gently, ignoring Judai's meaningful glare. "Anyway, we need to find out where we are. Since there's some light shining in through the trees, I'm assuming it's daytime wherever we are…"

Dragging his bruised body to its feet, Judai glanced around the area he was in. There was evidence of his earlier harsh landing (shown by a few broken branches and a half charred tree that had toppled over—no wonder he was bruised), but other than that, it was as if he didn't exist.

"Judai, we should stake out the area. I think there might be some people nearby."

Judai opened his mouth to question her, but then noticed what she'd seen; apparently, whoever it was weren't too keen on keeping their campsites free from detection.

"Okay."

Why the hell couldn't Judai just catch a break? Who the hell did he piss off in his past life that these things would continue to happen to him for several long _years?_

Judai sighed. _'Oh well…no use getting moody…'_

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Johan watched in horror as his older self collapsed on the floor, his eyes wide with pain. He thrashed about on the floor, screaming in agony. O. Jim attempted to hold him down, but O. Johan was so completely out of it that it would be a wonder if he even noticed O. Jim's presence.

"Shit!" Jun yelled as he shouldered his way through, kneeling down to grasp ahold of O. Johan's arms, grunting when he was kicked numerous times. "Is this a bad one?!"

"I don't think so," O. Jim responded, his eyes narrowing with the effort of keeping the other man down. "Look, he's already slowing down!"

O. Johan thrashed a few more times, and then suddenly, his eyes took on a distant look that showed he'd fallen unconscious. Almost instantly, he fell limp into O. Jim's arms.

Their younger counterparts, visibly shaken at having witnessed such a scene, crowded around the three.

"Is he all right?" Asuka questioned, her voice shaking just a little. Well, who _wouldn't _be a little nervous after watching someone have a seizure?

"He should be," O. Jim responded, carefully cradling O. Johan's head on his arm as he picked him up bridal style and carried him back to the couch. "I told him not to push himself too hard…"

"Does that happen often?" Shou asked, torn between asking O. Asuka how O. Judai was doing and watching O. Jim take care of O. Johan.

"Sometimes, it really depends on his well-being that day," O. Asuka stated, having been so concentrated on her work that she hadn't reacted much to O. Johan's seizure. "There are days where he has multiple seizures for seemingly no reason, and then there are the times that he overexerts himself. I really wish that we could figure out what's wrong with him…I hate seeing him in so much pain."

Having finished patching up O. Judai, O. Asuka delicately wiped her tools off on a cloth and beckoned Austin over. "Help me move him to the other couch."

Austin didn't so much as protest to being ordered around, which shocked the youngsters a bit. Apparently, they'd all changed much more than they had originally thought.

O. Judai groaned slightly in pain, but otherwise didn't move at all as he was transferred to the couch opposite O. Johan.

When O. Asuka finished getting O. Judai situated, she turned only to see Jun standing in front of her, a wet towel in his hands.

"I dipped it in the spring out back…I figured you'd want to wash your hands." Jun murmured softly, handing the towel over into O. Asuka's outstretched hands. She smiled warmly up at him, so much love in her gaze that Jun nearly fell over with the feelings that assaulted him.

Glancing off to the side and catching the shocked looks of their younger selves, Jun felt immense gratitude that they'd worked out in the end. Back then, he knew that Asuka still loved Judai, and wouldn't grow to accept him for several years.

Perhaps this is why he'd never given up hope? Because somehow, he'd known she would warm up to him eventually?

Jun smiled at her, but it was a pained one. "I wish…that this wasn't happening."

O. Asuka's smile dissolved and she looked down at her half washed hands, eyes darkening considerably. "Yes…how sad is it that we missed our own wedding day?"

"You were…getting married?" Asuka asked, her eyes still wide with shock.

O. Asuka laughed somewhat bitterly. "Well, we were supposed to be married about a week ago, but as you can see, that's obviously impossible!"

"But we have every intention of getting married once this is over," Jun finished for her, pulling her gently into his arms; he could tell that she was still really upset. "You hated seeing Judai like that, didn't you?"

O. Asuka sighed, leaning into Jun's embrace. "Of course I do. I may not love him anymore, but I still care for him a lot…you know, I wonder what he's been doing all these years?"

Asuka attempted to fight down a blush when her older self revealed her secret in front of everyone, but to her dismay, nobody looked surprised. "Is it that obvious?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Manjoume replied, his tone reflecting the jealousy rushing through his veins. "I've known you had a crush on him since our first year."

Asuka shook her head in disbelief. "Y'know, I think I've had enough surprises for a long while. How about we all go back to bed for a few hours?"

Loud murmurs of agreement filled the room and everyone started heading back to their respective sleeping spots. However, just as Asuka was turning to go to hers, a hand fell on her shoulder. She turned to see her older self smiling at her.

"Can we talk?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They walked into the next room over for privacy. Asuka's head was spinning. What could O. Asuka possibly want to talk to her about?

O. Asuka leaned against the wall, crossing her feet at the toes. "So, how are you holding up?"

Asuka blinked in surprise. "Just fine…but…why?"

O. Asuka shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it's just that you seem to be taking this a little harder than the others. I wanted to make sure that you're okay."

Asuka took a deep breath to steady herself before answering. "It's just as I've said before…just _way _too many surprises. I mean, we get teleported to a different dimension, meet our older selves, nearly get killed, I find out that I'm marrying a man I never thought I'd consider—"

O. Asuka giggled in amusement at the last part. "Well…I admit, it didn't happen quickly. But after we graduated, Jun was persistent with pursuing me. Eventually I caved in and in the end, I fell for him. He…really loves me…a lot more than I originally thought he did."

Asuka didn't say anything. Instead, she merely nodded, her eyes glossing over as she fell inside her own thoughts. _'I knew that…he had a crush on me…but…he actually…loves me? Something so strong…' _

A part of her didn't want to believe it, but she could feel that it was true. No man had ever been so persistent when it came to courting her, not even the guy that had challenged Judai to a duel for her hand in marriage (she blushed at the memory). Perhaps…she should give him some consideration at the very least? Her feelings had to start somewhere…

O. Asuka smiled gently, fully aware of the internal battle going on inside the teenager. "Don't over think it; just let it happen naturally. In the meantime, we should be getting back."

"Yeah." Asuka sighed and followed O. Asuka back into the other room, wanting to do nothing more than lie down and sleep for at least a week. _'I'm so tired…I wonder if the others are too?'_

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edo grunted in pain as he attempted to resituate his wrists. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small pool of blood forming below the chains, which confirmed his thoughts. Obviously, the chains had cut into his wrists and had become infected.

If this was luxury treatment, Edo felt deeply sorry for the prisoners that didn't receive it; he had a feeling that he didn't even know the meaning of true hell.

"What do you think they want with Judai, na no ne?" Cronos spoke suddenly, his voice shaking with pain. He was dealing with a similar situation as Edo, and it probably took everything he had to avoid screaming when he opened his mouth to speak.

"I don't know, but I really hope he doesn't come to rescue us," Fubuki replied, and Edo was honestly shocked with the cold tone that he was using. "If he does, thing's likely turn even more ugly than they already are."

Edo nodded in response, but didn't answer aloud. He was far too lost in his thoughts.

They obviously needed to find a way to free themselves. Both him and Cronos had infected wounds, and being in a damp dungeon was sure to make it worse. Not to mention that the amount of food they were given was just enough to sustain them, and not enough to make it through even a few weeks without their health dropping dramatically.

If they didn't do something soon, they were going to begin dropping like dead flies.

Edo unintentionally shivered at the word 'dead', hoping that his companions didn't notice. Suddenly, Karen growled angrily and Edo's head snapped up just in time to make out the drunken faces of several guards as they entered their cells.

"Y-Y'all are gonna participate in some games. Might as well make yourselves…us-useful." One of the guards laughed menacingly, pulling the keys to Edo's chains out of his pocket.

Edo swallowed nervously, his mind whirling as he considered the word 'games'. That certainly didn't sound good.

He didn't have time to ponder it further because his chains were suddenly free and he was being yanked to his feet. He tried to fight the strong arms, but then his wrists were squeezed painfully and Edo couldn't hold back the pained scream any longer as dirty skin met bloodied raw flesh.

"Edo!" Fubuki called out to him, thrashing about as he was handled in the same way. But he too, was unable to break free.

"Unhand me at once, na no ne!" Cronos shouted as he was dragged out of his cell, only Karen being left behind.

The guards didn't head their pleading. Instead, they were dragged down the hallway, all protests eventually silencing.

In all his life, Edo had never felt so hopeless, so _weak. _These men were handling them as if they were mere toys and Edo couldn't have felt more like one. And just what were these _games _that they were to participate in? Edo half hoped that it was something like dancing for the drunken bastards just so long as it didn't involve anything…vulgar…

He trembled at the thought, hoping and _praying _that it wasn't what they were being brought in for. At this point, he'd rather die.

Little did he know that he'd find out the truth in the statement "Be careful what you ask for."

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A few hours after everyone had gone to bed, pained brown eyes slowly opened, catching sight of the sick blunette on the other couch. "J-Johan?"

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**Sorry for the short chapter, everyone! ^^ I just ended up accomplishing everything I wanted to in this chapter a little earlier than I wanted…Oh well, at least I'm updating! Sorry if it's a little confusing. The next chapter will focus a bit more on Edo and the others.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own YuGiOh Gx. I do this merely for fun and to develop my writing skills. =D Needless to say, it's helped a lot.**

**So…well…I guess I sort of left off at a bad point last time. -_-' Hehehe…Well, I didn't want to put all this stuff in the last chapter! **

**This chapter was supposed to focus a lot on Edo and the others, but it ended up being mostly about everyone else. XD Oh well. Sorry for the long wait, everyone! I had a hard time writing this, for some reason. **

**Also, in this chapter, we finally get to see some long awaited SPIRITSHIPPING. –Dances- I'm so sorry for taking **_**this **_**long to get it in here, but…I couldn't rush it, ya know? X3**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 5: Nightmares and Reality**

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Edo gasped subtly in pain as he was thrown harshly to the concrete floor, his companions dropping down beside him. None of them dared make a move to stand, for to do so would probably mean more pain and that definitely wasn't on their to do list for the day.

"Ah—gentlemen, the entertainment has arrived."

Edo glared at the feet of the man that came to stand in front of him. He choked when a puff of foul smelling cigarette smoke was blown down into his face, causing his eyes to burn and his throat to ache with the arid taste.

"Have fun, boys. Don't rough 'em around too much, the boss wants them alive."

Edo's eyes widened in horror and from the corner of his eye, he noticed Fubuki's and Cronos's do the same. _'God, please no…'_

After the drunken guards left, the man looked down on them, a sneer spreading across his chapped lips. He dropped the cigarette onto the concrete and stomped on it, a cold laugh erupting from his mouth.

"You'll be participating in several duels. Whoever wins, gets an extra helping of food next meal."

Edo's eyes narrowed as he considered this. Basically, they were being forced to participate in an unprofessional tournament, with extra barely edible food as the prize?

He carefully weighed their options.

"All right then…let's duel!"

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O. Judai stared in shock at the still form of O. Johan on the couch opposite him. At first, his heart had nearly lept out of his chest when he thought the other male wasn't breathing. It was then that he noticed the subtle rising and falling of O. Johan's chest.

"_He doesn't look too good, Judai."_

O. Judai groaned, his head pounding sharply in reminder of his injuries. _'I know…maybe he's just sick?'_

'_You know better than I do that he definitely isn't just sick. Look at him!'_

O. Judai took a deep breath to steady himself before pushing his body wearily to a sitting position, his chocolate brown eyes taking in every inch of the blue haired man. That's when he noticed something.

'_He's shivering…' _He bit his lip gently in thought, nervously cycling through the possible illnesses that his friend could have. Of course, it could always be a really bad fever or the flu, but he knew that it would be too simple to cause such a severe reaction in the other man.

O. Judai stiffly slipped off the couch and knelt down in front of O. Johan, reaching out absently to touch the extremely pale cheek nearest him. To his surprise, O. Johan stirred at the feeling of his touch.

"J-Judai…?"

"Johan…" O. Judai breathed a sigh of relief, moving to retract his hand. To his surprise, O. Johan reached out shakily and captured it within his own and O. Judai gasped once he realized just how cold the other's skin was.

"My God…Johan, are you…"

"Shh…" O. Johan whispered, the ghost of a smile appearing on his lips. "I'm not done in q-quite yet…"

Warm brown stared into dull green. O. Judai could honestly say that he was a bit freaked out by his friend's appearance. He was so ghostly white that he might as well be dead.

"I'll be okay, Judai. T…The poison should wear off in a few days," O. Johan explained between shaky breaths. O. Judai's eyes widened comically.

"Poisoned?!"

Had the situation not been as serious as it was, O. Johan might have laughed—or attempted to, considering his condition. As it were however, instead a small frown ghosted across his face.

"Don't worry, it wasn't meant to kill me," O. Johan explained, his voice beginning to sound a little better now that he was actually awake. "I was attacked while patrolling a few weeks ago and they tried to get information out of me. When I refused to talk, they slipped this poison into my system and threatened to kill you if I said anything about it…I knew you were nearby, so I couldn't risk it."

O. Judai clenched his fists in frustration. _'D-Damn it!'_

O. Johan smiled gently, a slight sparkle returning to his dull eyes. "It's all right, Judai. Don't blame yourself."

"B-But you were…" His voice trailed off as he heard voices in the next room. "Where are we?"

"The base. O'Brien and Jim brought you back after you were shot."

"Right." That's right, he'd been shot. No wonder his back and leg hurt like hell.

"We must have slept through the night and part of the morning…the others are probably going to patrol n-now…"

"Johan?" O. Judai smiled gently once he noticed that the other man was falling back asleep. "Go back to sleep; I'll go talk to everyone."

"M'kay…" Was his soft answer as O. Johan buried his face into the soft cushions of the couch.

O. Judai chuckled lightly and stood, wincing as he shakily put weight on his injured leg. He nearly stumbled into the wall when he first attempted to take a step, but then managed to regain his balance. _'Yubel…I've got a weird feeling…'_

"_Me too. Something's not right. Perhaps our other selves have finally arrived here?"_

'_Great, that'll just make things worse.'_

Hanging onto the wall so as to avoid losing his balance, O. Judai carefully stepped into the next room, seeing everyone gathered around O. Jim and Misawa, who seemed to be in the middle of some sort of heated debate.

"H-Holy geeze, I would think you'd be more respectful of those that are still sleeping."

Instantly, he was regarded with several pairs of startled eyes as he leaned heavily against the wall, wincing as a shock of pain continuously traveled from his leg and back. "H-Hey."

"Judai!"

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"Judai, I think we might have landed right in the middle of a war zone."

Judai snapped out of his daze at Yubel's menacing words, glancing up at the double colored eye duel monster. "What gives you that impression?"

"I see bullets…a lot of them."

A sense of cold dread settled within his stomach, constricting his heart within the cage that was built to protect it. Why did this stuff always have to happen? Why did he always have to be the hero? Why couldn't he just have something go right so that things could return to normal…?

Of course, he knew the answer to this. He was Haou—the gentle darkness…he was meant to be the hero that lied in waiting with the shadows, waiting for his opportunity to strike. That was the way destiny had intended it.

Destiny…

"Heh, I wonder what Edo would say if he could hear me right now," Judai chuckled lowly, despite his rising awareness of danger. "I wonder if he's mad at me for what happened."

"I doubt that he blamed you, Judai. He gave his life willingly to try and save that girl—Ekou. You did not influence his decision in any way; whether you'd been there or not, he still would've tried to save her. It's one of the many similarities that you two share."

"We are alike…aren't we?" Judai allowed a smirk to cross his lips, but quickly let it change into a grimace once he realized just how many bullets he was finding. "I think we really did land in a war zone. I wonder what happened here?"

"I don't know, but there's blood. We might find someone injured nearby…or worse, the ones that injured them."

That cold feeling struck him again like a kick in the gut. _'Damn…I was hoping that she wouldn't say it…hearing it aloud just makes it sound all the more menacing.'_

A small smile spread across his lips.

'_Nothing that the prince of darkness can't handle…guess I'll just have to face it head on!'_

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edo grunted in disgust as the drunken man fell to the floor, his duel disk expelling all the cards that had previously been set upon the spaces.

"W-Why…"

"Who's next?" Edo asked calmly, resisting the urge to smirk when several of the men flinched at the coldness of his tone. "Come on—we don't have all day."

"You challenged us, so it only makes sense that you'd put up a decent challenge—right?" Fubuki called out, an unreadable expression on his face. Edo found himself watching the other duelist out of the corner of his eye. Fubuki was the kind of person that Edo could grudgingly hold respect for, especially since he was one of Hell Kaiser's closest and most loyal friends. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it had often felt like he'd been competing with the brunet for Ryou's attention, once he got passed all the bragging.

As much as he didn't want to say so out loud, he was beginning to miss the steady and strong presence of Hell Kaiser standing by his side. They still didn't know what had happened to the duelist that had died in the dark world because of his heart problems. Would Yubel have restored him too, like the rest of them? If so, did that mean that he was here somewhere?

Edo felt a determination settle into his stomach. _'If he's here…then I'll definitely find him…I'm sure Fubuki will help me…and the others if we ever get out of here.'_

"Are ya paying attention, pipsqueak? I said that I'd take you on!"

"Call me pipsqueak again and it'll come back to bite you in the ass." Edo stated coldly as he readied his duel disk once more, glancing over at Cronos to see how the older man was progressing. He was currently in the middle of dueling a man that could barely stand, looking ready to chuck his duel disk against the wall out of sheer frustration.

Edo sighed. _'If this were any other situation…I wouldn't bother participating in such a childish bargain…but we might need that extra helping of food if we can't escape soon. There's no helping it.'_

'…_Judai…please don't come.'_

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"Why are you all s-staring at me like that, huh?" O. Judai grinned somewhat painfully. "Do I have something on my face? I know I probably look a little roughed up, but not enough to scare people!"

"You idiot!" O. Judai winced as he was whacked upside the head by an irritated Jun, who looked ready to throttle him.

"What the _hell _was that for?!"

"You haven't changed a bit, you oblivious moron!" Jun snapped, glaring sharply at O. Judai. "You were shot; you know, blood everywhere, all over you, damn near killing you, shot! How can you just laugh it off?!"

"I've been through worse."

He nearly fell over once he noticed that everyone was staring at him with matching expressions: disbelief. "Hey, I've been running from these guys for a while! Of course they've got me a couple times. I think that wound to the shoulder that they gave me a while back was the worst!"

"Did you get that scar from them, too?"

O. Judai's grin instantly slipped off of his face, a somewhat hesitant expression replacing it. "You mean…"

"The scar on your face," O. Shou began, his gray eyes narrowing slightly in an intimidating fashion that looked completely out of place on the boy's usually cute appearance. "You didn't have it the last time we saw you. Where did you get it?"

"I…I got it fighting the head of the organization," O. Judai admitted, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable as he was scrutinized. "He cornered me during battle and we ended up duking it out. Bastard apparently carries a sword with him. I couldn't escape in time and he did a number to my face."

"But Judai…it doesn't look like it ever healed properly," O. Asuka thoughtfully spoke, walking up to stand directly in front of him, sending the still fuming Jun a silent look of warning. "Were you unable to tend to it?"

"I tried…but it just wouldn't heal for some reason." O. Judai shrugged his shoulders, wincing with the pain in his back. "I'm gonna be feeling this for a while."

"I told you that you shouldn't have lept into battle like that. What ever happened to evading contact with the enemy?"

Several occupants of the room jumped when suddenly appeared in solid form next to O. Judai, her fingers running gently through his hair. "Y-Yubel?!"

O. Judai pouted slightly, his expression darkening little by little as ruffled his hair. "Cut that out, Yubel!"

O. Yubel laughed softly before her expression turned completely serious. "Judai, I ask that you please think carefully before doing something like that again. There's only so much that I can do as your guardian to protect you against your own rash decisions."

"Yes, I know. Thank you, Yubel." O. Judai smiled warmly up at her, earning several looks of confusion among the younger selves who were still unaware of the fusion of souls between Judai and Yubel.

"Um…I don't mean to interrupt, but how are you still here? Didn't Judai beat you in the dark world?" Asuka asked, to her credit managing to keep her voice completely steady.

"Actually, it was a tie," O. Judai corrected, allowing O. Yubel's clawed hands to wrap around his torso to support his aching legs. "I ended the duel by playing Super Fusion, therefore fusing our souls together. Yubel's now a part of my soul."

"Then how is she standing in front of us—don?" Kenzan questioned, staring in awe and slightly fear upon the duel monster spirit. "That's never happened before."

"Because I fused with Yubel, I've gained some special powers…one of them is that I can summon monsters anytime I want to, as long as I have enough energy. That's how Yubel is solid right now—she borrowed some of my energy to make a solid form."

"I don't do it very often, though. Mostly because it isn't needed; we can talk just fine when I'm transparent. I merely decided to become solid for your convenience."

Johan sighed heavily and immediately O. Judai's eyes landed upon him, widening in realization. _'T-That's right! How could I have forgotten?'_

"That's right! Is Johan going to be okay? He woke up for a moment and talked to me…but he was so pale that I thought he was…dead at first…" O. Judai admitted, glancing back at the room from whence he came. "It freaked me out a bit…to see him like that."

"We're not entirely sure. He's had several seizures and has been unable to move around freely for a little while now. He looks worried, but he won't tell us about it." O. Asuka explained, carefully watching O. Judai's expression. It fazed from shock to anger and then to comprehension. What could possibly be going through his mind?

"I see…" Despite himself, he ended up glancing at the doorway again, resisting the urge to run back through the door to check on the sick man.

"Judai, don't forget about our other problem: our other selves."

"Right," O. Judai sighed, trying to stomp down the need to hold his nose in a gesture of irritation. "We think that our past selves may have arrived here by now. We can sense an aura of darkness that is a lot likes ours. We need to find them soon before they get into trouble; he won't be armed to defend himself properly."

"You mean Aniki's here?!" Shou glanced up excitedly, his eyes filling with a renewed hope. "That means he's okay!"

O. Judai was tempted to point out that _of course _he was okay since he was currently standing there alive and well several years in the future, but wisely decided not to comment. _'I made him…no…I made them all suffer while they waited for me. I'm sorry, everyone.'_

"That settles it then…" Misawa voiced, his strong voice echoing throughout the room. "Before we leave…we find Judai and explain everything."

"Hold up—don!" Kenzan interrupted suddenly, realization showing on his face. "Aniki, how come you knew about us already?"

The others looked at him, shocked once they realized that he was right. They then turned to O. Judai for confirmation.

"I was nearby when you crash landed here. Yubel and I were trying to stay away from the organization from the time being; besides, we knew that Manjoume and the others would be there to protect you."

They were still giving him weird looks, but O. Judai ignored it for now. Instead, he glanced behind him again, feeling a sense of dread course through him. _'I'm sorry, Johan. Because of me…you…'_

He knew that his friend didn't blame him for it at all, which didn't surprise him in the least. _'You never would blame me for any of it…would you? You'd gladly share that burden with me, even if you knew that I was guilty.'_

And without a doubt, so would the rest of his friends.

'_I'm so glad…to be together with everyone again. It's been far too long.'_

'_**Indeed, it has.'**_

"Hm…" O. Judai closed his eyes and allowed himself to absently drown in the comfort of O. Yubel's mind brushing warmly against his. It was one of the many reasons that he didn't mind sharing a mind with her.

He had a feeling that he was going to need all the comfort he could get.

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**End of chapter five! X3 Once again, sorry for the long absence! I just haven't been writing much lately, that's all!**


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